Freed hostages in Kuwait
KUWAIT CITY: Ambassador of Egypt to Kuwait Abdul Rahim Shalabi has praised Kuwaiti authorities for allowing three Egyptians, who were captured in Iraq and subsequently freed, to enter Kuwait without the need for going through necessary procedures. "The cooperation extended by the Kuwaiti authorities is not a surprise at it signifies the close relationship between the two countries, Shalabi said. Shalabi said the Egyptian hostages, Saleh Al-Iraqi, Hassan Ibrahim and Osama Jawiesh, were freed by Iraqi militants on July 3, 2006, adding "we decided to bring the hostages to Kuwait as it is close to Basra, where they were being held by their kidnappers."
Indicating representatives of Arab Contractors Company in Iraq, employers of the hostages, negotiated their release, Shalabi said "the Egyptian Embassy in Kuwait offered its knowledge and experience to the company in dealing with the crisis." "Board Chairman of the company Ibrahim Muhlib has informed us the company, which was reconstructing and maintaining the Khalid Bin Waleed Bridge in Basra, has decided to temporarily suspend its operations in Iraq in view of the worsening security situation in that country," the ambassador said. "We will support the company's decision until Iraqi authorities ensure necessary security and safety".
Stressing the freed hostages are in high spirits, Shalabi said "they will be flown to Cairo next Tuesday." Saleh Al-Iraqi, who was the Manager of the Khalid Bin Waleed Bridge Project, said "we were kidnapped on June 3, 2006 at around 4:30 pm when we were on our way back to our residence with eight other engineers. All of us were traveling in two cars when seven armed militants blocked our vehicles and forced us to get into their car."
"The militants asked us to wear dark sunglasses, put our heads down and to keep our hands behind our heads to prevent us from identifying their hideout," he said. "After 15 minutes of driving we reached a house, which was hot. The room was small and our request for more space was turned down by the kidnappers." Al-Iraqi also said "the kidnappers demanded Saddam's defense lawyer, an Egyptian, should withdraw from the case and all Arabs must leave Basra." Claiming the kidnappers asked all the hostages whether they were agents of Mossad "Israeli intelligence agency," Al-Iraqi said "we were not tortured by the kidnappers."
By Shawqi Mahmoud
© Arab Times 2006
